Men’s basketball assistant coach Shaun Senters is more than just a coach. He’s a true Bison at heart.
Senters, a Knoxville native, played point guard for the Bisons from 1994-1998 under former head coach Don Meyer. During his four years with the Bisons, they compiled a record of 119-27, participated in three NAIA National Tournaments, won the TransSouth Conference Tournament and advanced to the NAIA Final Four during the 1995-96 season.“There were a lot of guys that were more talented than me at the university,” Senters said. “But my job was to bring energy, be passionate, and basically have passion to play the game of basketball.”
Senters knew his role was to help the team succeed by bringing passion and energy to the court.
“Being a role player is not the easiest thing,” Senters said. “You have to bring energy and you have to do the dirty jobs.”
Senters graduated in 1998 with a Bachelor of Science degree in physical education. He spent a year coaching with Meyer as a graduate assistant where he got his inspiration to start his coaching career.
“I think a lot of coaches have looked up to Coach Meyer, and it was because of him that I coach today,” Senters said.
After his one year as a graduate assistant, he landed an assistant’s position at Shorter College in Rome, Ga., for the 1999-2000 season. Back at Lipscomb, the Bisons were making their transition to become a Division 1 NCAA program for the first time in history. New head coach of the Bisons Scott Sanderson needed a coaching staff, and Senters made the cut.
Ever since the transition from NAIA to NCAA, Senters has been on staff and helped lead the Bisons to an NIT Tournament appearance after winning the Atlantic Sun Conference title in 2006. During Senters’s tenure, Lipscomb players have been named 11 times to the Atlantic Sun All-Conference team, five times to the Atlantic Sun All-Freshman team and three times to the Atlantic Sun All-Tournament team.
Senters shows that he can help mentor players to become successful on and off the court. A big part of that includes his recruiting methods and what he looks for in an upcoming player.
“We’re looking for the whole package,” Senters said. “We’re looking for a guy that can come in and compete academically, come in and impact this campus by getting around the community and impact this student body.”
Senters said he felt more than blessed to play and coach under Don Meyer. Senters said he sees some resemblances between Meyer and Sanderson, and it all starts with family.
“The first thing that I’ve learned from Scott, starting my thirteenth year of working under him, is that he is a great family man,” Senters said. “He’s centered around his family, he’s centered around God, and he’s centered around making these student athletes the best people they can be.”
Senters and the Bisons try to make “family” a number one priority this season with nine new members joining the squad, making this one of his youngest teams thus far.
“I take a lot of pride in it,” Senters said about coaching at Lipscomb. “It’s the place where I got my degree from and got my education and where I became a man from a young man. It’s the place that I have a lot of passion for, a lot of love for.”
Photos courtesy of Lipscomb Athletics.